'Ragtime,' spotlighting diversity, opens tonight at E-burg H.S. North

Set in the turn of the 20th century are three diverse families from very different worlds, and that story takes to the East Stroudsburg High School North stage in "Ragtime," which opens tonight and runs through Sunday.

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By SUSAN JORSTAD

poconorecord.com

By SUSAN JORSTAD

Posted Apr. 5, 2013 at 8:06 AM
Updated Apr 5, 2013 at 8:13 AM

By SUSAN JORSTAD

Posted Apr. 5, 2013 at 8:06 AM
Updated Apr 5, 2013 at 8:13 AM

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IF YOU GO:

Where: East Stroudsburg High School North auditorium279 Timberwolf Drive, Bushkill

When: 7:30 p.m. April 5-6, 3 p.m. April 7

Tickets: $9, $7 senior citizens, ...

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IF YOU GO:

Where: East Stroudsburg High School North auditorium

279 Timberwolf Drive, Bushkill

When: 7:30 p.m. April 5-6, 3 p.m. April 7

Tickets: $9, $7 senior citizens, $5 students

Synopsis: "Ragtime" is a story about life in America in the early 1900s. The show illustrates issues of the day from immigration, racism and politics to industrialization and social upheaval. Historical figures intermingle with fictional characters. The show focuses on three families — one upper-middle class, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, a Jewish immigrant and his daughter, and a family from Harlem — whose intersecting lives are influenced by the ragtime era's social challenges

Set in the turn of the 20th century are three diverse families from very different worlds, and that story takes to the East Stroudsburg High School North stage in "Ragtime," which opens tonight and runs through Sunday.

In the musical, the upper-class Protestant family represents what life was like in the rich, white neighborhoods of New Rochelle, N.Y. Their sheltered lives differed significantly from those of the African-American and Eastern European immigrant families headed by Coalhouse Walker Jr. and Tateh, respectively. While Tateh travels to America with his daughter hoping for a new and better life in the land of riches (each with a story of upward or downward momentum), Sarah Brown and the people of Harlem were filled with the joys of Coalhouse's music — ragtime.

"'Ragtime' was the first show I ever saw on Broadway, as a Stroudsburg High School student in 2002," director Keith Labar recalled. "I just fell in love with it.

"The main challenge of doing it as a high school production was all of the heavy issues — racism, immigration, intolerance — and getting the (kids) to understand the use of words in the context of the time, and putting it all together."

Labar noted that some of the more sensitive language from the original production has been tempered to better suit a school production. Working with a cast of more than 70 students, choreographer Christine Suarez said the undertaking was managed by breaking the cast into three groups and first learning the music.

"We have a huge Harlem number, which was fun to choreograph, and then we have a big New Rochelle number as well."

"The seniors are great leaders, and they push themselves and each other," added Labar.